Alumni Stories

Our former students share their inspiring stories of success since leaving College

Serhan O: How studying Music at Lewisham College inspired me to become a Media Composer

Serhan studied his FdA in Music Technology at Lewisham College. He spoke to our Alumni team about how his course inspired him to pursue an exciting career in Composition and Film.

Now at the start of a Master’s degree, Serhan reflected on the highlights and challenges of getting into the industry. He also shared some valuable advice for others hoping to follow the same path.

“It was during my time at Lewisham College where I was first introduced to composing music to media and realised that is what I wanted to do,” said Serhan.

These ambitions sparked at Lewisham College are finally coming to fruition for Serhan.

After graduating from Lewisham College, he went onto university, where he achieved a first-class honours degree.

“The whole university experience was amazing,” said Serhan. “This was mostly due to having the freedom to work on your own project and something you’re passionate about.

“The greatest challenge for me was fulfilling my potential as an aspiring media composer and getting the most out of myself and the course while I was there. Another challenge I was faced with was performing music live with different DAW platforms that I was not used to. In a positive way, these challenges opened up new learning experiences for me.”

Now Serhan is taking his education even further by embarking on his Master’s degree in Composition and Film at Bristol University. Whilst studying for his Master’s, he will be working part-time to build up his portfolio.

“Eventually I want to be working in a music studio on a television series or within a production or animation team working on projects,” he said.

Finally, Serhan had some words of wisdom for others hoping to pursue a career in his industry.

“Don’t just be there because you think it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “Be there with a purpose, with a clear goal in mind, and do as much independent research as possible. Above all you must have the right attitude and choose a project in your third year that you thoroughly enjoy and want to research deeply.”